Kerri: A New Addition to the Flock
by K.N. Williams
Summary: Meet the newest meember of the flock: Kerrie Jamison


Chapter One:

Cold and wet, I climbed back in to my little dog crate. _Crap._ I reeked. I put one scrawny hand out as a whitecoat passed. "Help!" I tried to say but nothing came out. I looked down at the hand and realized I could almost see the bone. No mirrors were around so there was no telling how horrible my face looked. The whitecoat that had passed was holding a clipboard. She stopped and talked to another whitecoat who also had a clipboard. They exchanged notes and I caught just a few phrases. "Experiment 3689, that's right, she is related to him. Should I inform him?" She said frantically.

"No," came the sharp response, but it did not come from the man. Instead it came from a blonde woman that I had been raised to hate. _The Director, what was she doing here_, I thought. _And, why are they talking about me?_ The Director put her hands on her hips and scowled the other two for even thinking about informing whoever _him_ was. I slunk back into the corner of my crate and curled into a tight ball. I looked out at the world around me. Kids younger then me were stuck in small crates and other odd creatures that had once been small children stared back at me. I felt another sharp pain in my stomach and realized that it had been exactly three days since I had eaten last. The last thing I remember eating was a little bar of something or another. "Future food" as the whitecoats called it. Forget actual cooking just buy a bar of it. I felt a single tear run down my cheek. I waited until the three people standing a few feet from my crate departed and then I unloaded. I sobbed until I had no tears left.

It felt like hours later but I finally quit crying. I stopped because another whitecoat had opened the door on my crate and reached in to grab me. I looked at his nametag and read: _Dr. John Huckerson_. Doctor! Doctor! He's a doctor because every eight hours he picks up another helpless _experiment_ and hooks them up to horrible machine that gives out even worse readings. In his mind I bet he calls the experiments his _patients_. I feel his beefy hand wrap around my bony wrist. He drags me into a room and allows me to sit on the hospital bed. I realize there are no machines or wires. _What's up_? He closes the door quickly and then turns to me. "I can help you," he whispered. This was a new addition to the sick routine that I had gotten used to in the past thirteen years. "How?" I asked, not believing him.

"I can get you out." He whispered. I remembered when I had last heard these words. A girl named Max had last muttered the words to me when she and her friends flew off. Literally flew off. Max and her friends have avian DNA embedded into their own DNA. I could have gone with them; I had the same avian DNA as they had. I also remember telling Max to bug off. I didn't believe her either. But, for all I know they could be sipping the greatest virgin drinks on a Hawaiian island. So, I listened to what he had to say. He told me about the security system at the School. He talks about how it was always turned off at exactly midnight and turned right back on at one in the morning. He explained the vent system and gave me a route to get out of here. He said he was working night shift the next night so he could help me and a few others. _I can bring Sarai,_ I thought quickly. Sarai was my brother and my best friend. I looked at the doctor and studied his face for a minute. Then I asked, "Where's my brother?" They had taken him away from his crate a few days ago. I hadn't seen him since then. A look quickly came over his face; a look that said all too well that I would not be able to bring Sarai. I covered my mouth. "They _killed_ him?"

"No, they're doing some more tests on him. You know what Erasers are?" I nodded then I began to comprehend. I shook my head vigorously.

"He can't be one of them! He just can't be!" I said quickly.

"He is replacing Ari, you know, he helped Max in Europe. Before--" Before he _retired_. Retired. That ugly word that meant he was dead.


End file.
